Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2 episodes 7-9Star Wars movies and TV shows have always made it obvious why the Sith are bad: they crave power above all else, destroy anyone who gets in their way, and engineer wars to take over the galaxy. Long before that, they attempted to conquer the Republic as brutal warriors.
However, Andor season 2 episodes 7-9 get to the heart of why Sith philosophy is a path to nowhere. Despite Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and even the Inquisitors never once appearing in this show, Andor shows how the dark side can affect anyone's life, even if they're not Force s. It shows how the Sith affect everyone in the Empire and creates a perfect end to an amazing character arc.
Syril Would Have Been A Great Rebel... But He Realized His Destiny Too Late
Who knows what he may have become if he'd ed the Rebellion?
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Syril Karn dedicated his life to serving the Empire, only to realize far too late how wrong he was. Spending time among the Ghorman rebels, playing the part of a sympathizer, and seeing the flaws in Imperial procedure up close was the perfect recipe for a rebel in the making. Sadly, Syril didn't realize just how badly the Empire had used him until it was too late, and his failure to let go led to his death.
George Lucas has always talked about how everyone in Star Wars has a destiny laid out for them, but it's up to them to choose whether they'll follow it. Anakin Skywalker was destined to be the Chosen One, but he ignored that destiny for decades, only turning back to the light in his final moments. Syril likewise had a more productive path to follow, but now that chance is gone.
Syril's Life Was Wasted By Two Unhealthy Attachments
His obsessive love for one and his lingering hatred for another
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Unlike the Sith, the Jedi don't believe in being ruled by ion, something Syril was guilty of throughout the entire series. This caused him to have unhealthy attachments to two characters... Dedra Meero and Cassian Andor. One relationship was about love, while the other was about hate, but both of them ended up being Syril's undoing in the same instant.
Syril was so blinded by his love for Dedra, his need for her approval, and his desire to be like her that he constantly ignored his own misgivings. He never considered that her loyalty to the Empire would cause her to use him, and he realized the hard way that the Empire brings chaos and suffering, not order. Likewise, Syril's lingering hatred of Cassian caused him to forget everything and throw his life away in a fight.
"Who Are You?" Was More Brutal Than Syril's Actual Death
Cassian moved when Syril never could
Even in an episode with the mass murder of the Ghorman people, Cassian's final words to Syril were perhaps the most brutal moment. Syril hated Cassian, threw his career away trying to find him, and everything about his current life can be traced back to Cassian's actions at the start of the show. So the most devastating thing Syril could have heard was that Cassian didn't even who he was.
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This demonstrates another key flaw in thinking like a Sith: that the need for revenge is pointless and leads to destruction. Cassian may have been on Ghorman to kill Dedra, but he made clear earlier that it was for practical reasons, not revenge. I initially thought Syril tackled Cassian to save Dedra, and while that may be the case, the episode doesn't clarify that he even saw that Cassian was aiming at her.
Syril's Final Scenes Have So Many Brilliant Parallels (In True Star Wars Fashion)
"It's like poetry, it's so that they rhyme."
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George Lucas believed that Star Wars should rhyme like poetry, and Syril's final moments have several noticeable parallels. His reaction to the Ghorman Massacre, staring with horror and tuning out the danger around him, is nearly identical to his reaction after Cassian and Luthen killed his men back in season 1. It shows how he thought he had followed a better path, but inevitably ended up right back where he started.
This is also the second time Syril saved Dedra from being killed, and while it led to a relationship and promotions the first time, it ended with his death here. He has Cassian at gunpoint, the same way Cassian held a gun to his head back in season 1, and neither of them killed the other. Perhaps Syril intended to spare Cassian as he had been spared, but now we'll never know for sure.
The Sith Don't Just Make People Live In Fear... They Convert Them To The Dark Side
Syril and others like him were led down a dark path that consumed them
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Syril's tragic fate as a servant of the Empire embodies how the Sith don't just influence Force s, but everyone they hold power over. As laid out by Master Yoda, Syril lived his life controlled by fear, and his last moments saw that fear turn to anger and hatred amid untold suffering. He realized the truth but couldn't let go of the past, destroying any chance he had at a future.
Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni explained how balance in the Force works, how the dark side can influence everyone, even if they're not Force sensitive:
"The Force naturally exists in balance; that balance is thrown out when someone chooses to give in to their fears and then spirals out of control making selfish choice after selfish choice. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering... The choice between dark and light is often subtle and not limited to the Jedi and Sith. Everyone struggles with the balance between light and dark."
This reflects George Lucas' own view on the Force and summarizes Syril's fate. He mistakenly served the very system of power that made him live in fear, and overcoming his anger after so long was nearly impossible. I love that Andor took the time and effort to really show how the Sith affect the people of the Star Wars galaxy on a deeper level, giving a tragic end to a compelling character.
New episodes of Andor season 2 release weekly on Tuesdays at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST on Disney+.
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